RAGNARly

I wish I had pictures, but I left that to someone else and I haven't gotten them yet. I know he did a great job though. They will be putting together a slide show/video soon. Thursday night, Van #1 headed to Prescott together. We stayed in a hotel since we needed to check in around 6:30 am. No one slept that well, but that is to be expected. We woke to a nippy 28 degrees. The hotel had a great hot breakfast and while loading in the van, we notice two vans with big "the Biggest Loser" decals on them. We took some pictures, but never did figure out who was there running. They start you off in 20 minute intervals depending on your projected finish time. About 20 runners at a time. Glade was the first runner so he got the freezing cold, early morning run. After Glade, Julie went, then Jake, then Janice, then me and then Charlotte. Van #2, holding runners Jay, Dave, Janelle, Brett, Jerel and then Kristine came up early Friday morning. They didn't start till about 1 pm.

The first run seemed to be the hardest for everyone. I think the altitude was a little hard to deal with. Glade had a fairly small run in the beginning, but it totally wiped him. Poor Jake, he had a run that looked like this: straight up a mountain and then back down, it was killer. But....

Jake totally rocked it and finished ten minutes earlier than projected. The unfortunate part was when we weren't there in time to deliver the next runner. He had to sit and wait for us while all the people he passed went on ahead of him. We are very sorry, Jake! My first run was 5.5 miles with both up and down. I felt absolutely horrible when I finished. I started out really strong and just couldn't keep it up. My legs felt like bricks and I couldn't get my breathing to even out. I was very discouraged. Then I looked at my iPod which tracks my runs and it said my average pace was 10.26 min/per mile. That's actually pretty good! I had even run my fasted mile ever at 9.28.

After we all finished running and turned it over to van 2, we went to check in to our next hotel in Wickenburg to get some showers and rest. We stopped for lunch at Denny's and then got an hour or so of sleep. It was then about time to start getting ready for our next runs. My run started about 9:30 pm and was 7.5 miles. It was supposed to be mostly downhill, but I think they transposed the graph cuz it was mostly up hill. Killer. I ran the first 4 miles straight and then had to take some walking breaks every now and then. Because it was dark, we had to wear reflective vests and headlamps. I still have a sore spot on my forehead from the light. Although it was a tough run, I felt the best after that run than any of my runs. Everyone seemed to think the second was the best, even those that were running at 2 am. My average pace for that run was just around 11 minute miles, which is pretty average. After we finished, we went back to the hotel, showered again and got about 3 hours of sleep.

During the night, a runner was hit by a vehicle while crossing the street and was hurt really badly. They had to shut down 6 of the legs and head everyone around a different course. We were only cut short 2 legs, but it made for a panic of who was running when and where now. We all scrambled out of bed and headed to the meeting place to figure everything out. Van 2's last two runners took our first two legs so that left Glade and Julie without a third leg. No one was too happy about not getting all their runs in, so Julie ran part of Jake's run with him and Glade took my third leg (a serious uphill). One of Van 2's runners had to get home for a baptism so I ran his last leg. It was kind of a scramble but it all worked.

By the third leg, we were all hobbling along barely able to walk. Running again was not sounding that great, but we all wanted to finish it. I was really happy to have had Glade run mine because the hill was much steeper than the graph showed. We had cheeze it's and soda for breakfast and mostly just had a great time being slap happy sleep deprived funny from this point on. We eventually caught back up with van 2 who had not yet slept. By the time it was my turn again, it was the second to last run. I was totally pumped and feeling great. By great, I mean I could walk without a limp and a grimace on my face. I started out feeling so great! The course was very confusing which as frustrating and actually a little dangerous the way they had us cross a 5 lane street not in a crosswalk or anything. By the time I got to mile 2, I was spent. I desperately wanted water, but had none, I was sweating like crazy and just felt awful. I would walk and try to convince myself that it was only a mile and a half left to go, get moving! I would run for probably less than a minute and have to walk again. My face felt like it was on fire and sweat was burning my eyes. It was terrible. I finally got to the end and came to the exchange in tears. 3.67 stupid miles and I crashed. I walked straight to the van to get water and didn't talk to a single person. I kept trying to control my tears but wasn't very successful. Of course, everyone gave me the "you did great!" speech but I knew it wasn't true, I sucked. The only redeeming thing about this run was that when I got home and checked my runs on my iPod, my first two miles of that last run were 9.5 minute miles. No wonder I couldn't run anymore, I don't run that fast! We drove to the finish line to wait for Kristine so we could all come across the finish together and that was nice. Most of us couldn't keep up with her even for the last 50 ft. She was sprinting and we were all worbling behind her trying to get our legs to work, what a sight. We got our medals and gave our hugs and then some of us went to get dinner. It was nice to sit and talk with everyone about all our different experiences. It wasn't so nice to have to stand up from the chair.

We got home, showered, said brief hellos to our children and headed to bed! I couldn't even begin to go into all the jokes and stories and fun little things that we all shared as a team. The whole trip we talked about what we will do differently next year. Yes, there will be a next year with a bit more knowledge and a little more training. For now, it's recovery time!

I Used my passes for THAT??

Today Chelsey had a dentist apt at 7 am and she was supposed to get out of school by 9 am, so I didn't make her go back. Instead, I thought we could take this opportunity to go see a movie together. I really needed to get a lot of other stuff done, but what the heck! I even had decided since I had free passes and a refill left on my bag of popcorn, I would splurge and put Bo and Katy in the playplace at the theater. When we got there, they informed us that the playplace didn't open until 11 am. Our movie was at 10:15. Crap. We gave in and decided to walk around the mall. After just a few minutes, I had another idea. We went back to the theater and I asked if they (the babies) could sit with us until it opened. They agreed, so we went. I was happy that the theater was nearly empty and I figured as long as we had popcorn, they would be OK. They did pretty well and finally the time came, so I took them out and to the play area. It cost me $6 per kid and they LOVED it. They even made an actual craft. Totally worth it. I will remember that next time I think Katy won't like the movie the other kids are seeing. Same price but someone else has her. Nice.

As for the movie, what a hunk of junk. It made it worse that I was with my 17 yr old daughter, but the entire movie was based on sex. It's only PG 13 but they just talk about sex the whole time. It was really uncomfortable and I'm completely ashamed that I didn't just get up and leave. There were about 7 different relationships they dwelt on and only one of them were married. Even in that one, the wife admitted she had cheated. Two were high school couples and the one person in the whole movie that decided that his career had stopped him from what he wanted most, marriage and family, then announces that he's gay. Seriously? This movie wasn't about love and romance, it was pretty much just about stupid people who cheat and just shows the sexual aspect of their relationships. For having such big names and revolving around a holiday connected with LOVE, it was hugely disappointing. Sorry Chels.

Why I Love the Rain

As I drove my kids to school today amidst the gray sky and sprinkling rain, a certain sense of happiness and contentment came over me. Hmmm, I wondered why. There are those (mom, Heather..), that hate the gloomy skies and long for rays of sunshine. Not me. So I began to ponder this little aspect of my life. First I decided that rain made me grateful. I was immediately grateful for the van that protected me from the wetness that was outside. When I'm at home and it's raining, I feel safe and cozy and grateful to have a home. I love wearing sweaters and jackets and feeling warm despite the cold. If you walk outside to observe the rain, I think it's instinct to fold your arms and "hug" yourself. That's kinda nice too. Then there are the colors. Colors are more vibrant when they aren't washed out by the sun. The green is greener, the pavement is shiny...I don't know, it's just prettier. Lastly, it's probably the nurturer in me that is happy that all the pretty green is getting a nice fresh drink. My trees are being nourished the way they were intended to be. It's a good feeling. As I stood outside on my porch taking it all in, I even noticed all my little chickens huddled together in the coop. Cuddling is good, right? That, in a nutshell, is why rain makes me happy!

That time of Year

Spring is fast approaching which means several things for me. First, hot weather. A great big YUCK to that. Second, a million activities to attend to. Seems like the end of the school year brings tons of concerts and programs and crap, I mean fun, activities like that. Now throw in 6 kids playing some sort of sport and my life becomes extremely chaotic. It all feels a little overwhelming right now, but I'm sure we'll all make it through. Bo is just old enough to start t-ball, by only one day! Brooklyn got mistakenly signed up for softball, that's a story...and Stephen and Nick both made the baseball team at school. At least that one's a two-fer. Chelsey and Whitley are both doing track this year as well. It appears as though Whitley may be a hurdler. That should be fun. Lucky for me, Katy is big enough to tag along most places without too much hassle and Rhett and Dalin are big enough to stay home for awhile if needed. I'm sure my freezer will be stocked with way too many frozen dinners and very unhealthy processed foods, but desperate times call for desperate measures. The worst is going to be the mega gas bill that we will now incur driving all over the place for practices and pick-ups etc.

I'm especially grateful for the timing of my upcoming race. One week from today we will have started our 200 mile relay from Prescott to Phoenix. Once this is over, my NEED to train will go away so I won't be stressing about getting my runs in. I'm getting excited and now slightly nervous about the whole adventure. I've learned that almost all things are survivable so even if it's hard or uncomfortable, it's temporary. I know we will have a great time whatever the case may be. Great people = Great fun!

The kids are all starting to get spring fever which is never good. For us that means, undone homework, picking and poking, and too many "notes home" from teachers asking them to stop talking. I try to be patient with them, after all...I'm tired of school by now too. Three more months and then we get to break. They are already asking what fun adventures we will be taking this summer. Right now I can't even imagine having the energy to do something like that, but I'm sure I'll get over that. Chelsey almost lost her job, but it all worked out in the end. Rhett finally got his new books in the mail and has been reading like crazy. Whitley is more freckled than I have ever seen her (being in the sun for track) and also appears to have an unofficial boyfriend. She's not 16 after all. Stephen in itching to be 14 to participate in all the fun activities that will bring. Brooklyn and Dalin are both doing well in school and Nick is still taking great care of our chickens. Katy and Bo...well, this picture sums up the nature of their relationship.

A LOVE-ly Weekend

How many times can you celebrate Valentine's Day? I'm going to go with 4. We went to the wedding on Thursday night, see previous post. Then on Friday night, our ward held a nice little dinner and dancing night at the church. Dinner was good and then there was supposed to be dancing, but again with the "why are people such poops" thing. I will admit, the music was nothing I would ever listen to, mostly because I think it was from the 40's. We slow danced a few times with about 3 other couples and then we mostly just sat and chatted with people we love. It was a really nice night.

Saturday, my list was really long. I got laundry and children started, then took Whitley to track and ran my 7 miles around a neighborhood close to the school. It was a crappy run, but I did it. Got home, took a shower and headed right back out to my nail appointment. They made me wait almost half an hour which always sucks, especially when I rushed so much to get there. After my pedicure, I told the girl I wanted a heart on my big toe. She started to do it, but it was upside down to me. I mentioned this and it totally confused her. After conferring with another girl and the manager, she looked at me and said "I can't do that". She tried something else and it looked like a blob, still upside down. I told her I didn't want that and that I wanted the heart the other way. Again, a conference and the reply "I can't do that". I'm totally giggling by now. Is it that hard to draw a heart upside down?? It's not, try it. So finally she wheels her chair around, cranks herself over my leg and tries to do it from this angle. I'm looking really silly in my chair trying to sit in a way that she can reach my foot. The other girl working next to me smiles and says "you special!" Seriously?? They ended up looking goofy anyway, but at least not upside down.

Glade and I headed to the store (he met me at the salon and witnessed the whole ordeal) to pick some things up for Sunday dinner and our dinner we were going to in a few hours. At home, I tried to lay down for a quick nap, but couldn't shut my mind off. We went to our Game's Night Valentine's dinner where we grilled up some steak and had a great dinner and then played games. Another really fun night.

It doesn't end there. Sunday, Glade got me three different cards that he had left in conspicuous places throughout the day. He did really good. The whole family came for dinner and we played games until everyone left. What a fun and long weekend!

Monday we did Rhett's birthday party. I took Katy, Bo and Brooklyn to see the Tooth Fairy instead of the movie the kids were seeing. It was cute, but Bo and Katy were not really interested so that was a nightmare. Up, down, up, down...bathroom..repeat. I was so grouchy by the time I left there I almost wanted to cry. It seemed that the day drug on forever! I decided on hamburgers for dinner and for some reason, when we have hamburgers, everyone is happy. There's just a happy feeling in the air, weird. It's nice though. We had FHE and then I settled in to watch the Bachelor. Even after all that, the day couldn't end fast enough. I laid in bed wishing the clock would hurry up. Turns out I got a great night's sleep and was so happy when I woke up this morning. Ahhhhh! That ended quickly, but that's a whole nother post!

Rhett Turned 12

Rhett turned twelve on the 12th. You know what that means....Golden Birthday. He was more excited than you could know. He even thought he might have trouble sleeping the night before. On Friday morning, we were all wishing him a happy birthday when Stephen mentioned that he was now old enough to go on the Deacon's campout they were having that night. We called the leaders and asked if that would be OK. What a great way to spend your birthday. All he wanted for his birthday was an airsoft gun so he could play with Stephen and Nick. That's what he got. So far, his birthday was a hit!

We had already decided to have his party on Monday since there was no school. He really just wanted to see Percy Jackson, the Lightening Thief. He invited a few friends and that's what we did. They all came over first thing in the morning, we had cinnamon rolls and sang to Rhett, then headed out for the movie. Some of them liked it and some were disappointed it didn't follow the book that well. I took most my other kids as well. After the movie, two of the boys went home and two that live close by came and hung out for the rest of the day.

On Sunday, he was ordained to be a Deacon and is now officially a priesthood holder. We are so proud of him and all he has become. Good things lie ahead for Rhett. Happy Birthday!

Ben, Rhett, Wyatt, Spencer and Jake

Forever On the Dance Floor

Please don't stop the music, music. It was only about a year ago that I let go of my "I'm too old for this" attitude and rediscovered my love of dancing. As a teenager, that's most of what I did. I love choreographed routines, being in front of a crowd, entertaining. It's a rush. It's just as much of a rush to be on a crowded dance floor moving to the music with friends as well. There's an old NSync song that says "the music gets me high." I always identified with that and felt it was such a perfect way of describing it. As I've aged, matured and well, to be to the point...gotten bigger, I let all that go for the sake of what others might think. It wasn't until we were on a cruise last May, a particular club on the boat was empty, but there was good music playing. Glade and I went in and started dancing. No one around to judge me. It was great. We danced till we were sweating and had so much fun. Eventually more people came, but by then we didn't care anymore. It was then that I came to the realization that I don't care. I love to dance.

From the time we are tiny babies we start bouncing when we hear a good beat. It's natural. It's also natural to get older and bigger and not look as good doing what we once did look good doing. Why does that matter? Unfortunately, there are not many places to go and enjoy such things that aren't riddled with scantily clad women, inappropriate music and alcohol. It's also unfortunate that the people I associate with, mainly speaking of friends in the church, aren't brought up to be crazy. They are more reverent and low key. I think that is perfectly fine and there is definitely a need and place for that, but isn't there a place for crazy fun? On a little side note but relevant, my kids love visiting with my family back in IL because, in their words, "your family is way more fun than dad's!" I was brought up to be silly and loud and crazy and sometimes maybe even a little too much so, but we have fun. While visiting at my Grandma's house back in IL, we got together just as adults and played a family favorite card game. We laughed till we cried. We were loud and joked with each other and acted goofy and loved every minute of it. When it was all said and done, my Gram made the comment "I think that's what I've been missing, fun."

I know not everyone feels the same about music and dancing as I do, but don't we all have something that makes us feel like that? This has all been brought to the forefront of my thoughts mainly because last night we attended the wedding of a cousin and for the reception they had a DJ. (not many LDS receptions do that) The dance floor remained empty for a very long time and finally they played Please don't stop the music and I sat there wishing I was up dancing. Next was Forever on the Dance Floor and I couldn't take it anymore. So, Glade and I did some solo performing for several songs. It was a little awkward at first, but then the I don't care part of me took over. This is fun! I'm sure there were some whispers and giggles and maybe even a little pointing, but guess what....I went home sweaty and feeling great! You....sat in a chair. Not even the teenagers there would get out and dance, after all...what would people think? Poor Whitley had to hide her head in shame as her old fart parents busted a move out on the empty dance floor. Some day, hopefully, she'll get it and she'll do the same thing to her children. That is my wish....to be Forever on the Dance Floor. I, of course, made a little request for Let it Rock and that was our finale. As I told Whitley (who never once made any attempt at movement)..."if you can't rock, you can't throw stones". Get it...rock, stones. Anyway, I had a great time. I'm lucky to have a husband who will shake his groove thing right along with me. I'm grateful for parents who also love to laugh and enjoy life and aren't too consumed with an "image" to uphold. And to my poor children.....Get Over It!